


Altschmerz

by myriddin



Category: Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, Where's Waldo - Martin Handford
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6441955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myriddin/pseuds/myriddin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dark hotel rooms always seem to lead to uncomfortable truths.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Altschmerz

She lay silently in the dark for hours after her bedmate had fallen into slumber, left alone to sounds of the night and the phantoms of her own mind. She battled with herself for hours before the inevitable came, a low, barely audible beeping that came from the piles of fabric sitting beside the bed. With a soft sigh, she gracefully slid out from beneath the blankets and fished the offending device from the trenchcoat at her feet. Squinting in the darkness to make out the symbols on the screen, recognition motivated her into moving and slipping silently back into her clothing.

A quick glance out the window revealed darkness thick and black as velvet, any trace of moonlight obscured by a heavy layer of clouds- certain to mask her presence until she could find a safehouse more suitable to her needs. Opening the door revealed a blustery wind, whipping back the tails of her coat and giving her plenty of reason for her to linger in the doorway…nothing to do with what she was leaving behind.

“Still leaving without saying goodbye? I thought we’d moved passed that.”

She turned on her heel with a sigh, just in time to watch his shadowed figure sit up in the bed.

“What kind of progress could we possibly make? Leaving without useless goodbyes has always been our modus operandi.”

He clicked on the bedside lamp, sliding on his glasses to fix his piercing gaze on her. That had been both a problem and a thrill, those dark, intent eyes that seemed to see right through her. “What about Madrid? I helped you give those agents the slip.”

“I had a backup plan. Yours was just closer.”

He rolled his eyes, rising to his feet until he stood before her, unabashedly nude. “Anchorage. We spent nearly a week together in that cabin.”

“We were snowed in.”

“Then what about Prague? Were there any excuses then?” He edged closer, his hands hot even through her layers as he placed them on her biceps. “There was no mission. No heist. No search dogs. Just us.”

Silver-tongued Sandiego found herself speechless, because there was nothing to refute. He was right, there had been no excuses, no interruptions, nothing between them but a pair of sheets, and even those hadn’t lasted long. She sighed once more, putting as much chastisement into her voice as she could muster. “Waldo…”

His lips quirked into a small smile, and he leaned in to press a soft kiss to her pulse, traitorously picking up under his touch. “Close the door and come back to bed, Carmen. No one’s come knocking yet.”


End file.
